Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1887-08-26
BILE words. fell forward and sank IN

| Inc storm now began 70 ran upon that
sorrowful place, and as the rain begin to
fall, Edward Brennan, though longing for
death. plunged into the dam and rescued
father, mother, and sister, although dead,
from the water, and carried them into the
cabin.
He then close the door, and for the first
time noticed a dagger lying under chair,
and looking at it he saw the name of Ben
Warner engraved on the handle. Casting
it down he went and kpeeled between his
dead father and mother, and with one hand
resting in theirs, he lifted the other toward
heaven and prayed that his father, mother.
and sister might be avenged.
| lat this moment a terrific report echoed
! along the sky,a il to show that his prayer
was answered and with lighter heart he
laid down to sleeh and the roar of the
wind and patter of rai n drops soon luled
his weary form to Sst, to sleep with the
dead.
His slumbers were not broken until the
rays of morning sun canned against the
windows, and on looking around he saw
the three dead bodies. he thought at first
that it was dream, but tle events of that
dreadful evening dawned apon him, and
convinced him of their reality. sand they
must be buried, he next thought, and he
then went to try and get aid to- bury them;
SO he went to where the miners were. but
great was his astonishment when he saw
that nothing remained of their Aut except
few ashes, and few feet froS the ashes
lay the mangled form of a maA. When
Edward Brennan gazed on the face. though
terribly disfgured, he knew hir prayer was
answered, for before him lay Ben Warner,
cold in death, with face rs dark as mid
night and terrible wounds on his body.
The ground under him was torn up,
which showed where the electric current
struck. And it was here that Ben Warner
met his fate after his murderous work.
The victims of his murderous dagger were
avenged, but not through the instrument
tally of man; it was from higher power.
After shudder at seeing such spec
tacle he wenthome, yes, to asorrowful home,
and with his own hands he dug nice, large
grave, and ornamented it with the wild
flowers that adorned that wilderness, and
gently laid father, mother, and sister side
by side. No one was there to help him,
no one TO sympathize with him, for all was
lost.
| And in that wilderness where solitude
reigns supreme, and where nature is
adorned like goddess, there could be
seen a new-made grave under the shade
and blossoms of an apple tree, and the
three forms sleep there, peacefully, and
quietly until they shall be called forth to
the neverending kingdom of rest. And
as the sun disappeared from mortal sight,
and as the shades of night came on, sor-
rowful figure could be seen approaching
that new-made grave, and, judging from his
movements, there must have been terrible
emotions within him. Soon the unearthly
notes of the whippoorwill were heard. and
together with the dirge of the frog, there
was formed a strange chorus Of sounds
whic were waited to the lonely grave; and
the tree which had stood there for years
and years, as living monument to the;,
memory, seemed to shake and culver as if
q Vaccination was formed against it,"
Here the hunter ceased speaking, but
walked toward the apple tree and beckoned
me to come there also. went there, when
he again said, Here they lie 10 this day,
and you see the grass is green on their
grave" We sat in silence for a few min
utes, when he again spoke, "And now
young man, have told you the story re-
lating to this mystery which hangs over
this fearful place, and trust that all is
clear now. Some say that the place is
haunted, and that three persons in white
are seen; if it is SO you can readily imagine
who they are" then thanked him for
telling me the story, and asked if he knew
what became of Edward Brennan.
Whereupon he looked at me. and l saw
that his eyes were full of tears, and with
an unsteady voice he said, Edward
Brennan, whose life was saddened by the
loss of his father, mother and sister forty
years ago, stands before you, not any more
a young man, but one who is ready to
leave this world with its sorrow and sin.
Shortly after l buried them I went away,
unable to look upon that horrible place,
| oue AA 'AASoAoIAoAe Impulse HAS drawn me
here after that long lapse of time. And
here 1 stand again where I stood forty
years ago, but all is changed; their grave
is overgrown with grass, the saw-mill is in
ruins, and the log cabin is fast crumbline
to ashes. The stream is, indeed, the only
feature that is not changed, while am the
most changed of all"
For q few minutes I sat with bowed
head, and when l again looked up he was
gone, and being thus left alone in strange
way. decided 10 go home; and when on
an elevated part Of the mountain glanced
down into the vale saw him lsneeling
under the apple tree with uplfted hands.
The scene was too affecting to gaze at,
and journeyed homeward and arrived there
just as night was shrouding the earth in
darkness.
And during the night my slumbers were
disturbed by visions of Broad Mountain,
but can truthfully say that 1 never re-
GREETED learning that dark, mysterious secret
which was unfathomable for so MANY wears.
and which was yelled by canopy of dark
ness.
A few years after my visit to Broad